Voidmate
by IamDragonFury
Summary: Immediately follows "No Strings Attached". When he is not spending time with Frisk and Asriel, Gaster spends his time trapped in the void, however, what he has not told his young friends is that he is not actually alone in the void. However, given who's always there waiting for him, he would rather be the only one there.


Man, have I been ready to write this.

Now, I will say this right off the bat, this could have easily been the conclusion to "No Strings Attached", however, I was so ready to end that fic, I basically said "Screw it, I gotta move on".

A big reason I wanted to write this as a separate fic is because 1. It does not really have much to do with the actual plot of "No Strings Attached" outside of referencing certain things from it and 2. because this is setting up another fic down the road I am excited to write, it will also sorta follow up the events of "The Light That Leads Us Home". So, yeah, the significance of what happens here will serve as a stepping stone, and I hate myself for using that phrase (dammit Nagito Komaeda), for what is to come in the future.

* * *

Gaster strode placidly into the dim void that housed him, just outside the realm of existence, when he spent most of his days in a confounding isolation, despite being able to see and hear everything going on outside.

His presence mostly went unnoticed, with some exceptions, that is, the first person he was able to make contact with in the plain of reality, ever since his entrapment, was the human child, the boy that had helped free Monsterkind, Frisk, the second was the son of his old friend, King Asgore, the long deceased, though recently restored, prince, Asriel.

As far as the children knew, they were the only ones who could interact with Gaster, that is...as far as they knew.

What they did not know was that there was, in fact, one other person Gaster could interact with, though, he would rather he could not.

"What up, Gaster?" the looming skeleton heard.

Gaster inhaled deeply and exhaled.

"Not. Now. Chara," he said with a strained sighed, "can't I have five minutes of peace without having to hear your ungodly voice?"

"Wow," the demonic child responded dryly, "tell me how you really feel, sir."

The skeleton man gave an annoyed wave of his hand and turned away from the soulless boy.

"Really? You're going to walk away from me?" Chara quipped, "And where exactly do you think you're gonna go?"

"Away from you." Gaster stated.

He continued walking the opposite direction, until his path blocked by the same person he was trying to get away from, who teleported themselves in front of him, one of the few abilities he had left.

"Come on, G," the once-human child voiced, "I may not have much power left, but, I can still send myself where I want, there's nowhere you can go that I won't find you."

"Do you really not have anything better to do?" the skeleton scientist groaned.

This is how it had been for a while now, ever since Frisk had defeated Chara, destroying his ability to reset and take control of people's bodies once and for all, leaving him with no where to go and nothing to do. Chara had little power now, he was alive, but, his soul was still tattered, literally his only power now was the ability to teleport and walk between the realms of existence and non-existence. So, in reality, Chara was not _trapped_ in the void with Gaster, unlike the skeleton man, he could leave whenever he damn-well pleased, he simply _chose_ to hang around there, spying on the people he left behind, while at the same time, tormenting the long-beleaguered scientist for his own amusement, knowing he could not escape him.

"We've been over this," Chara said, twisting himself left and right playfully, "until one of _them_ need you again, you're stuck with me, I can't believe that's an actual thing I need to remind you."

"You know, for someone who refused the opportunity to be saved," Gaster retorted, kneeling down to meet Chara face-to-face, "you sure are intent on sticking around."

"Hey, if I have to remained trapped in this hellhole of existence," the demon boy asserted, "then I may as well get some entertainment out of it."

The looming skeleton stood back up.

"And I suppose that's your way of accepting your consequences?" he quipped.

"I'll admit, I've come to accept the weight of the results," Chara attested, "I kinda had to, given that nobody is above consequences."

"Yes," Gaster said flatly, "everyone knows that."

He once again turned away from the boy, who promptly moved himself in front of the skeleton man once again.

"Do they, sir?" Chara questioned, "More specifically...do _you_ know that?"

"Why wouldn't I?" the skeleton scientist replied, "I'm pretty sure this situation of mine is a testament to that fact."

"You endure your punishment with dignity," the red-eyed child voiced, "I'll give you that, but, you still have yet to truly own up to your misdeeds."

Gaster look on with a deadpan expression.

"Don't look at me like that, you know what I'm getting at," Chara jabbed, "in all the time you've been able to communicate with _them_ , you still have yet to tell your little buddies about the things you did when you worked for the king."

"Asgore already knows what I did, I told him years ago, shortly before...this," Gaster attested, "and I know he still remembers."

"Maybe he does know everything," the demonic boy retorted, "but, even if he does remember, do you think he'll ever tell? Of course he won't, he'd never tell on you, because, it would violate your...what was it called? Oh yeah, your "camaraderie conduct"."

"He was never obliged to keep those secrets." Gaster huffed.

"Oh, I disagree, Doctor," Chara countered, "I think he was _very much_ obliged to keep those secrets, the fact that he hasn't outed the secrets yet is proof of that. It just goes to show...friendship really does transcend the line between life and death."

Gaster looked at the child with look of utter contempt.

"Are you really going to stand there and pretend like you know anything at all about friendship or love?" the skeleton man voiced earnestly, "Because, based on your track record, don't know the first thing about either of those sentiments, you murderous, little urchin."

"Maybe I don't know much about those things, but, I do know something about keeping secrets and that never ends well," Chara responded snidely, "I mean, you haven't even told them that you can see and interact with _me_."

"They don't need to know that, in case you haven't noticed, everybody has been getting along just fine without you," Gaster expressed, "nobody, not Asgore, not Toriel, not even Asriel have made any indication that they miss you in the least."

Chara looked on with a blank expression.

"That's what you wanted, right?" Gaster continued, "You wanted them to forget about you, didn't you, you wanted them to stop caring about you, because you didn't want or deserve their recognition, right?"

No response.

"Or...is that not really what you want? Was that speech you gave Frisk following your defeat sincere or was it simply a passive-aggressive attempt to make sure you actually _didn't_ get forgotten?" Gaster questioned, "Admit it, Chara...you have no idea what you really want...do you?"

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves, Doctor," Chara spoke in a soft, intent voice, "I'll give you, perhaps I don't want to be completely forgotten, but, it has nothing to do with sentiment, I could care less what happens to that worthless lot. Truthfully, what I really want is...a secret."

The red-eyed boy snickered darkly.

"You'll find out soon enough just what I'm after," Chara affirmed, "and I assure you, it goes beyond destroying the human race, trust me, this will be much more interesting."

Gaster was about to respond, until he was hit with a familiar sensation.

"Well, as much as I would like to continue our "lovely" conversation," he said dryly, "I have to go now, Frisk is calling me."

The looming skeleton turned around and proceeded to walk away until he faded from the void.

"Oh, don't worry," Chara called after him, "I'll be here when you get back."

Now he was alone in the void.

"Act self-righteous all you want, old man," the demonic child said to himself, "soon, you won't be the only one at the mercy of my presence and when that time comes, no longer will people say "My God", instead, they'll be saying "My Chara."

* * *

This may not have explained everything yet, but, it got the most important point across, which is: Chara is still around.

Also, I meant to point this out at the end of "No Strings Attached", but, I forgot, so, I will mention it here, the "camaraderie conduct" that Gaster and Chara mention is basically another term (that I made up) for "Bro Code".

The story is not over yet, it is barely at its middle, but, if I am lucky enough, this saga's end will be great.


End file.
